2025This year has been a year of complete reckoning for the cryptocurrency industry. The once-glamorous fundraising stories and those top-tierVCThe star projects backed by celebrities have fallen one after another in the past year.RootDataThe data shows that the number of project-related deaths recorded this year, although not as high as in previous years,2022YearFTX is a cryptocurrency exchange platform that was onceCrash and2023YearLunaThe peak during the financial crisis, but this wave of bankruptcies is fundamentally different.——It is no longer a chain reaction triggered by a black swan event, but rather a complete collapse of business logic under extreme pressure.
Those who were once highly anticipatedGameFi refers to the integration of gaming and decentralizedProject, such asCOMBO、Nyan Heroes、Ember SwordShut down one after another;NFT stands for Non-Fungible Token.The track was in even worse condition, a scene of utter devastation,Royal、RECUR、X2Y2Platforms have successively exited. More alarming is the fact that even those who have achieved success...a16z is a well-known venture capital firm that focuses on investing in early-stage technology companies、Polychain、Coinbase VenturesEven projects backed by top-tier institutions with tens of millions of dollars in investment could not escape this survival crisis. Projects that had raised over $100 million in funding...Vega ProtocolUltimately, the mainnet was shut down due to weak user growth, with a valuation exceeding...3billion USDRECURandDeFi stands for "Decentralized Finance."AgreementDELVThey also approached their endings. These cases send a clear message: in today's environment of increasingly conservative investment attitudes, fundraising scale and institutional prestige are no longer guaranteed safeguards.
From Speculative Frenzy to Value Restoration
The entire industry is undergoing a painful but necessary paradigm shift.GameFi refers to the integration of gaming and decentralizedThe collapse of the sector is the most representative, with the market size declining from the beginning of the year.237.5billion U.S. dollars, shrinking all the way to the end of the year.90.3hundred million U.S. dollars, a decline of more than 60 percent. Those that were once wildly popular"Play and Earn"In the absence of continuous external funding, a token economic model with high inflation cannot be sustained; instead, it accelerates user attrition. Many projects have attempted to shift toward...Telegram is a cloud-basedMini-programs are seeking opportunities for survival, but due to the stagnation of the main chain business leading to a broken ecosystem, most of these attempts have ended in failure.
NFT stands for Non-Fungible Token.The market's collapse was even more shocking. The total valuation dropped from1of the month92plummeted from billion USD to25billion U.S. dollars, with a drop as high as72%Market activity has sharply declined, with the number of sellers dropping significantly since...2021Year4First drop below since the beginning of the month10Ten thousand people. The underlying reason is the lack of practical utility, which has become a fatal flaw. When the speculative frenzy subsided, people realized that these digital artworks, aside from being hyped, held little actual value. The elite group within the crypto community has begun reallocating their assets, shifting their focus from digital art to more tangible and certain scarce physical assets.
DeFi stands for "Decentralized Finance."The sector was no exception, with the total value locked (TVL) declining by more than ... throughout the year.20%Frequent hacking incidents have undermined users' trust in the security of the protocols, while the exhaustion of returns under existing capital competition has caused a large amount of yield-seeking capital to accelerate its exit. This period of pain demonstrates that those..."Low effort, high leverage"The project has already lost its foundation for survival.
What is the true value of encryption technology?
When the speculative bubble dissipates, we need to reconsider a fundamental question: What is the true value of cryptocurrencies? And what inherent advantages do they offer compared to the traditional financial system?
The answer is actually not complicated. The core advantage of cryptographic technology lies in the free flow of global capital.——Cross-border transfers do not require payment of foreign exchange handling fees and are not subject to any capital control restrictions. This is made possible through 24/7 instant settlement.——Transfers can be received in real time, without waiting for several business days; this is due to the extremely low transaction costs.——Not only does it eliminate credit card processing fees, but the low transaction rates also enable innovative applications such as streaming payments, which are not feasible under traditional models. This is also due to programmability and composability.——Digital assets are controlled by code rather than intermediaries, enabling them to be freely transferred across decentralized applications and giving rise to more functionalities; this is due to their open nature that does not require permission.——Anyone, anywhere, at any time can access the cryptocurrency network.
Based on these core advantages, some truly valuable directions are emerging. The internet capital market is one of the most promising areas. This does not refer to those filled with poor token economic models.MemeNot just coins, but enabling cash flows to become natively investable on the internet. Imagine a world where not only on-chain...DeFi stands for "Decentralized Finance."Applications, stable cash-generating businesses in the real economy, dividend-paying stocks, royalty income streams, real estate projects, various apps, and more can all be tokenized. This makes them investable and tradable, and they can be recombined to form entirely new financial products.
Finding the True Value洼地 (Value洼地 refers to an undervalued area or investment opportunity)
The changes in the current social structure have rendered traditional ones..."Fundraising from family and friends"The pattern is gradually becoming ineffective.——With shrinking family sizes, friends scattered across the globe, and relatives living in different countries, raising funds from family and friends today is not only cumbersome and questionable in terms of compliance, but also difficult in terms of consolidating the funds. However, the internet-based capital market has made global fundraising possible again, and this model is applicable to various asset classes. Niche areas such as small and medium enterprise financing, micro-subscription software, securitization of royalty income streams, and financing based on creators' revenue rights all urgently need the development of on-chain fundraising tools and applications for distributing investor cash flows.
Stablecoins are the least controversial golden赛道. The total global stablecoin supply has exceeded3000billion U.S. dollars, growing by hundreds of billions in the past two years. According to data from the Ministry of Finance's forecast, by2030In the year, this number will approach3Trillions of dollars. Stablecoins offer significant payment advantages: instant settlement, no cross-border fees, extremely low transaction costs, and 24/7 availability. Use cases such as gig economy platforms, remittances, and disaster relief make excellent applications for stablecoin payment solutions. More importantly, the programmability of stablecoins has given rise to continuous streaming payment models.——The payment process automatically starts when an employee clocks in for work and stops immediately when they clock out at the end of the day. Salaries are calculated by the second and transferred in real time, eliminating the need to wait for the traditional two-week payroll cycle.
Decentralized Science (DeSci is a concept that combines "decentral) isAIThe intersection with the internet capital market.AIThe development of these technologies has significantly lowered the barriers for individuals and small teams to conduct original scientific research. However, bringing research outcomes to market still requires capital support. Many rare or niche diseases are often overlooked by major pharmaceutical companies due to their small patient populations and limited short-term commercial value. By leveraging a permissionless global capital market, we can find people who genuinely care about these diseases and inject funding into research projects. When...AIandDeSci is a concept that combines "decentralCombined with these approaches, individuals and small teams can also effectively conduct cutting-edge scientific research.
Survival is the only narrative.
2025The pains of the year are an inevitable part of the journey toward maturity. In the crypto world, high funding and star status...VCEven popular sectors cannot guarantee survival. Projects that lack genuine user accumulation and sustainable business models will inevitably face a breakdown in their cash flow once external capital support is lost, regardless of how high their initial entry barriers may be.
But this reckoning is also accelerating the evolution of the industry. Every real economy cash flow that is recorded on the blockchain makes the technical architecture of decentralized finance more valuable. When tens of millions of real economy enterprises complete their transition onto the blockchain, the past five years ofDeFi stands for "Decentralized Finance."Various battle-tested financial primitives will be re-empowered to serve these external cash flows, giving rise to an entirely new financial ecosystem.
This is the worst of times, and also the best of times. With speculative bubbles dissipating, the true builders are just beginning their journey. The crypto world does not have eternal winters or summers; surviving and discovering genuine value is the only narrative that matters. Projects that can grasp the core advantages of cryptography and address real-world problems will ultimately rise to the surface through this process of elimination.